from The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware, by Peter Craig;
Classon, from the settlement of NEW SWEDEN, located on the Delaware River, and predating any and all European settlers;
John Classon, also called John "Paerde Cooper" (horse trader in Dutch {so he was Dutch and not Swedish}. and his brother Peter Classon, father of Jacob Classon of the Crane Hook congregation, shared the "Mill Dorp" plantation on the Christine River in 1669-71. Both were probably the sons of Clas Jansson, who was a passenger on the first voyage of the Kalmar Nyckel to New Sweden in 1637/8. and who is recorded as the first settler at the site later called "Mill Dorp". By 1677, John Classon owned land at Passyunk, property which he sold to Anders Bengtsson in 1681.
John Claesson and his eldest son, Claes Jansson each pledged money to the Swedish church at Wicaco Aug 10, 1784. The father died soon thereafter. In 1693 he was survived by 3 sons and 6 known daughters....all the males had the last name of Johnsson , due to the naming pattern used by these folks....the children took the father's GIVEN name as their surname...thus John Claesson's sons were named Johnsson, or John's son - Claes, Dirick and John Johnsson, sometimes spelled Jansson.. Sometimes the girls would be called, for example Maria Johnsdotter, or Maria the daughter of John....you can see why this made these folks hard to track, for their surnames changed each generation...thus, John Classon left NO children named Classon. However the name would surface again if his son Claes had children, for they would have been named Claesson of one spelling or another...